Fire and Ice 2: Hindsight
by Durhelediel and Layren
Summary: A mysterious stranger from Obi-Wan's past threatens his life. With his Master still in recovery Obi-Wan must try to survive on his own until help arrives. Non Slash. COMPLETED!
1. Default Chapter

**Title:** Fire and Ice: Hindsight  
  
**Authors:** Durhelediel and Layren  
  
**Rating**: R for torture  
  
**Disclaimer:** Of course, all recognizable Star Wars characters belong to George Lucas. We just like to take them out to ...um, play. Yeah.  
  
**Note:** Second in an intended series of six. This is a little Master/Padawan challenge between ourselves. Fire and Ice was with both of our fav characters being tortured. This one is Layren torturing Obi-Wan. Then it will be Durhelediel's turn to torture Qui-Gon in the third one. There will be one more each of Obi-Wan (Layren's doing) and Qui-Gon (Durhelediel's doing), and then an ending one with both of them being tortured. We ask our readers to help us judge on who tortures the best. :} Have as much fun reading as we are writing! Lol  
  
**Chapter One  
**  
Sixteen-year-old Obi-Wan Kenobi sighed and turned around at the healer's call. He and his master were still recovering from their latest excursion to Hoth where pirates had tried to kill them by leaving them on Hoth's surface, exposed to the elements. Qui-Gon was currently in surgery to repair his larynx. "Yes?"  
  
Healer Apprentice Anya came over to the apprentice. "Master Qui-Gon is doing very well. The surgery is progressing without any problems. We should be done in about thirty minutes. He'll be awake shortly after but he still won't be able to talk for a few more days yet."  
  
Obi-Wan sighed. "Thank the Force," he breathed. "I need to alert Master Kyran and Master Devin." And Lana, he added in his mind, reaching for his comlink and thumbing it on.  
  
Kyran yawned a little as he woke up. He'd been in the Healer's ward for the last several days waiting on Qui-Gon to recover, but the healers had finally chased him out and made him go get some rest. "Josel," he mumbled through a yawn.  
  
Obi-Wan yawned in response. He had not slept since the two days he had been allowed out of the bacta tank as he watched his master recovering from his injuries and then preparing for his surgery. "Qui-Gon will be out of surgery in thirty minutes. He's okay," Obi-Wan finally said through his yawn.  
  
Kyran came more aware. "Good. Let me get dressed and I'll be right there." He thumbed off his comlink and rummaged around for his tunic. He shook his wife's shoulder gently. "Lana?"  
  
Lana immediately awoke. "What? Is it Qui? Is he alright?"  
  
"Qui-Gon is fine. He'll be out of surgery within half an hour. Let's go get dressed and go down there to see Obi-Wan."  
  
Lana pulled on a tight bodysuit that she kept under her Jedi robes. "Has that boy gotten any sleep in the last two days?"  
  
Kyran sighed. "I have no idea, but I'm going to drug the boy myself if he doesn't sleep soon."  
  
Lana opened the door for her husband as she attached her lightsaber to her belt, then hooked her arm in his as they walked to the turbolift that would take them up to the Healers Ward. "He's certainly not helping things any by not sleeping," she agreed. "Qui-Gon will skin us alive when he finds out that his padawan is sleep deprived." She keyed in the floor in the turbolift and they zoomed upward.  
  
"Yes he will," he agreed. He nodded to Devin as they got off the lift seeing him coming from the other direction. Devin fell into place on Kyran's other side, yawning.  
  
Lana punched Devin lightly on the arm. "Perhaps we can put it off on Devin?" She joked at her husband.  
  
Devin seemed confused at first, but Kyran quickly sent him a mental burst that caught him up. "You can't do that!" Devin said in mock outrage. "I was busy with important Council business." He rolled his eyes. The Council had called him for yet another briefing on his last mission that had gone horribly wrong. The thing was, they wanted to send him off on yet another one right away. He'd never see his friends at this rate.  
  
Lana smirked. "It's two against one, Devin dear..." She trailed off as she caught sight of a very obviously exhausted Obi-Wan in the waiting area.  
  
Devin smiled a little at the padawan. "We've come to wake you up, young one. It should only be a few more minutes. You look like you're about to fall asleep on your feet."  
  
Obi-Wan made an effort to smile but found he didn't even have enough energy for that. "They'll let us in to see Qui-Gon soon," he said, his words slurring slightly with exhaustion. "I'll sleep after that, I promise."  
  
"Good. You won't do Qui-Gon any good by falling asleep on top of him from exhaustion." Devin put a hand on the young man's shoulder.  
  
Obi-Wan nearly fell over. He grinned at Devin sheepishly, but no one was able to comment because Anya came in to usher them to see Qui-Gon.  
  
Qui-Gon was lying on his side in the bed. His eyes were closed but Kyran could sense that his friend was awake and aware of what was going on, yet he was drifting in and out of sleep due to the anesthesia. Qui-Gon's eyes fluttered open as he felt Kyran touch him gently and he smiled, noticing his visitors. He sat up slowly, wincing at how heavy his head felt.  
  
"Master," Obi-Wan breathed, his eyes wide. "So good to see you awake again." He noticed that what once had been a hole in Qui-Gon's throat was now just a light pink spot that seemed to not really be anything at all.  
  
_Thank you, padawan. It's nice to be awake. Sort of_.Qui-Gon yawned lightly, then winced at the ache in his throat from opening his mouth. _How are you feeling?_  
  
Obi-Wan caught his master's yawn and ended up yawning so largely that his jaw popped. He grinned. "Better. Been waiting on you these past few days."  
  
"And not sleeping," Lana reprimanded loudly.  
  
Qui-Gon arched a brow at Obi-Wan. _What's this I hear about you not sleeping? How many times I have I mentioned to you that resting after recovering from a major illness is an important part of recovery?  
_  
Obi-Wan frowned at Lana, who was innocently glancing at the ceiling while Kyran stifled a laugh. "I'll sleep now that you're out of surgery, Master. Some people just haven't learned patience."  
  
_Yes indeed, and some haven't learned to quell their anxieties_.He stared meaningfully at the padawan. _You should've slept and as your master I order you to go get some sleep._His mental voice was stern, but his eyes were twinkling.  
  
Obi-Wan sighed and stood. "I feel like I have three fathers and a nagging mom," he muttered as he turned around to leave. "I'm going now, okay? But I'll be back in six hours."  
  
_Good._Qui-Gon sent a wave of warmth and love to the boy. _I only want you to be at your best, Obi-Wan.  
_  
Obi-Wan smiled as he glanced over his shoulder, dark bags under his eyes. "I know," he said softly. "I'll see you in six hours, Master." Then he left.  
  
Qui-Gon sighed as he settled back in his pillows, then he frowned. He had a sudden bad feeling about the boy going back to their quarters. He shrugged it off. The boy needed his rest.  
  
Kyran gazed at his friend, catching the echo of his feeling. "Something wrong?"  
  
_Maybe. I just had a sudden...feeling.  
_  
Kyran, Devin and Lana shared a glance. Lana stepped toward the door. "Should I go after him? Make sure he makes it back alright?" she asked.  
  
Qui-Gon paused and thought for a moment. He shook his head and then yawned again. _Likely it's just me being tired from the anesthetics. No need to disturb his rest for something like that.  
_  
Kyran frowned. "Well, if you're sure..." he trailed off, waiting for an objection.  
  
Qui-Gon answered the question by settling back on to his pillow. _I'm sure.  
_  
The three friends relaxed. If anyone knew if Obi-Wan would be in danger, it would be Qui-Gon. "Okay," Kyran agreed as Lana motioned him over to her. "Well, we should let you rest as well. We'll come back with Obi-Wan. We just wanted to see your ugly face." He grinned to take the sting out of his words.  
  
Qui-Gon stuck his tongue out at Kyran and crossed his arms over his chest. _No fair picking on me while I'm sick, Josel._  
  
Kyran laughed. "That's why I do, Qui."  
  
Lana punched him. "Be nice." They waved and left him to rest.  
  
Devin hesitated. "Before I go, I've been called off on another mission. I'll check back in with you when I can, my friend."  
  
Qui-Gon yawned and waved him off. _Be careful, Devin._ _The Force be with you.  
_  
Devin grinned and quickly stepped out of the room to let his friend rest.  
  
Qui-Gon yawned again and settled back into his pillows, snuggling deeper under his covers. Somewhere in his dreams he hoped that Obi-wan was getting the rest that he'd been ordered to.  
  
---------  
  
Obi-Wan fully intended to sleep as soon as he entered his and Qui-Gon's quarters, yet a red, blinking light drew him to their datapad hooked into the holonet. Sighing, he checked it, then paused. It was a short note from what sounded like a child that knew Qui-Gon. It sounded as if the child were in danger, and was asking Qui-Gon for help. He sighed. He couldn't let this child go, but his master was not able to go help anyone yet. Perhaps it was nothing anyways...children tended to over exaggerate. But could he take that chance? Glancing longingly at his bed, he hurried out of the door, chanting the name of the city that the child said he was living in.  
  
--------  
  
Obi-Wan felt his vision fuzzing with sleep so he quickly set the speeder down between two alleys. The child's address was close to this area but he was so tired... He jerked himself from out of a doze and jumped out of the speeder to get the blood flowing. He quickly walked up to an old house that seemed on the verge of collapse and knocked. A small voice timidly called him inside. He had taken two steps into the dark interior when the Force flared a warning through his sleep deprived brain. His reflexes were not up to the task of defending himself and a he felt a prick at the back of his neck. Immediately, he sank into black oblivion.  
  
A shoe nudged the fallen padawan and a cold voice snorted. "I thought Jedi were supposed to be harder to catch, yet this'll do." Laughter echoed in the building, cold and without mirth as shadows picked up the limp youth and carried him away. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**  
  
Kyran woke with a start. He had dozed off for a short nap while waiting on Obi-Wan to wake, but something in the Force had prodded him to full alert. His heart hammered and he was broken out in a sweat, yet he did not know what was wrong. The only thought he had was to contact Qui-Gon. After several frustrating minutes of trying to convince Anya to disturb the recovering Jedi Master, he was finally allowed to talk to Qui-Gon. "My friend, did you feel it?" he asked without preamble.  
  
Qui-Gon was sitting up in bed with a worried and agitated look on his face. He nodded once to show he had. _What was that?  
_  
Kyran shook his head. "I was hoping you could tell me," he said three floors below his friend as he began to walk back to the Healer's wing. Lana gave him a quizzical look. "I'm going to have Lana check to see if Obi-Wan felt it. I hate to disturb the boy but we need to make sure that all of us are safe."  
  
_I agree,_Qui-Gon said as he laid back in his pillows. It was so frustrating to think there might be some danger lurking and be unable to do anything about it.  
  
Lana ran off down the hall to where Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's quarters were. She quickly skidded to a halt outside the door and knocked rapidly. There was no answer, but she didn't think there would be if the poor boy was finally sleeping after two days. She used her passcode to enter and strode to Obi-Wan's room. She stopped short when she saw his bed was empty, and worse, not even rumpled. A quick survey of the other rooms showed that Obi- Wan was no where in the quarters. Before she contacted her husband, she noticed a datapad blinking by the holonet. Feeling the Force prompt her, she scooped it up and ran out the door, thumbing her comlink on as she did so. "Obi-Wan's not in the rooms," she said quickly as she skidded into a turbolift and keyed for the Healers.  
  
"What?" Kyran said astonished as he entered Qui-Gon's room. "He was supposed to go back to his room and sleep!" He glanced at Qui-Gon who had drifted slowly back to sleep from the anesthetics still lingering in his system.  
  
"Well, he's not here," Lana replied a trifle testily. "He's bed hasn't even been turned down. I found something that you should take a look at." She stepped off the turbolift, closed down her comlink and raced into Qui-Gon's recovery room. She handed her husband the datapad. Glancing at the slumbering Qui-Gon, she whispered, "I haven't even looked at it yet. It might be a clue."  
  
Kyran took the datapad from his wife and frowned a little as he turned it on. "Blast it," he said as he saw the letter with the request for aide on it. "He's probably not in the temple at all."  
  
Lana shook her head. "He needed sleep! Where would he go? What does it say?"  
  
Wordlessly Kyran handed the datapad to his wife. "You know how Obi-Wan is. Where do you think he went?"  
  
Lana sighed. "One of us needs to tell Qui," she murmured, her eyes still riveted to the datapad.  
  
Qui-Gon blinked sleepily. "Tell me what?" He croaked out.  
  
Lana and Kyran glanced at each other. Kyran sat down beside him. "Qui-Gon," he said gently, "Obi-Wan's missing."  
  
Qui-Gon frowned a little. His throat had hurt when he spoke, reminding him not to speak aloud. _What do you mean he's missing?_he demanded as he came more awake, sitting up in bed.  
  
Lana quickly shut the door and barricaded herself in front of it to keep him from leaving. Kyran cleared his throat. "Lana found this message on your datapad," he said as he handed to his friend.  
  
Qui-Gon clenched his jaw at reading the datapad, then he very calmly got out of bed, intending to go back to his room that instant to go after Obi- Wan.  
  
"Qui..." Lana said warningly. "Get back in bed. Now." She glared at him.  
  
He folded his arms very stubbornly across his chest. "No," he said hoarsely.  
  
Kyran joined his wife at the door and raised an eyebrow. "You are not allowed to leave this room, my friend, until you have completely recovered. That's another two days. Lay down."  
  
He glowered at the pair of them and tried to open his mouth to say something, but winced at the pain his throat. _Kyran, move aside._  
  
Kyran and Lana both shook their heads. "No," they replied in unison. Kyran hid his wife from view as she twisted her comlink on and tuned it to Apprentice Anya's. Loudly, Kyran stated, "We are not going to allow you to leave, Qui-Gon. I'll start the search, but you must stay here."  
  
Qui-Gon frowned, his eyes pleading for understanding. _But I'm fine! I just can't talk, that's all.  
_  
Kyran felt his heart wrench for his friend, but he knew Qui-Gon needed to finish recovering. "We don't even know really where to look right now. Lana and I will go to this address and see what we find. You rest here like you're supposed to. I..." Just then the door slid open behind them and Anya stepped in, surveying the scene. Lana quickly turned her comlink off and shoved it back in her belt.  
  
Qui-Gon glowered at Anya as she entered, wondering which of his friends had dared pulled a fast one on him to call the Healer. He suspected strongly that it had been Lana.  
  
Anya gazed coolly at the big Jedi. "And what do you think you're doing up out of bed?" she asked calmly, stepping around the husband and wife in the doorway.  
  
"Leaving," he said shortly. He thrust the datapad at her. "My apprentice is missing."  
  
Anya glanced down at the datapad, then back at him. "That is regrettable. But you are not going anywhere. Master Josel and Jedi Josel are more than able to start the search for your padawan as you stay here and rest." She crossed her arms and stood in front of Kyran and Lana.  
  
He resolutely folded his arms across his chest. "I'm not tired."  
  
"You're not going," Anya said just as firmly.  
  
He glanced at her with a stony expression. He was going and she couldn't stop him.  
  
Anya sighed. She had been warned about him. "Fine." Quickly, she planted an extremely strong Force suggestion into his already tired and drugged mind. "Sleep."  
  
Qui-Gon tried to fight off the unconsciousness he felt, but between the drugs and the Force suggestion he fell into its blackness quickly.  
  
Anya swiftly caught him and staggered slightly under his weight. Kyran and Lana helped her get him back into bed. "Well," the apprentice sighed. "That will hold him for a while. I might have to resort to medications to get him to stay put, though." She wrinkled her nose, then sobered. "So Obi-Wan is missing?"  
  
Kyran nodded reluctantly. "Yes. We sent him to get some rest and apparently he went out of the Temple instead."  
  
Anya frowned. "Doesn't sound like him. Sounds more like..." she glanced down at Qui-Gon's sleeping form. "Is there a reason?"  
  
Kyran nodded. "Apparently there was a request for aide lying on his bed from someone. He decided to investigate. I have no idea why he didn't call one of us first."  
  
"He was tired. Exhausted Jedi do not think rationally," Anya said wisely. She checked on Qui-Gon's vitals then motioned them all out of the room. She locked the door and keyed an alarm to it if the lock was forced. "Well, I do wish you luck searching for him."  
  
---------  
  
Lana crouched down low. She knew this section of Coruscant too well: this was the fringe where she had lived most of her life. And the building where she could see Obi-Wan's speeder was one of the worse places a young Jedi could be by himself, especially an exhausted one who was too tired to barely keep his eyes open. "Well," she murmured, "He's obviously not in the speeder."  
  
"Obviously not," Kyran mumbled back. "Things couldn't be easy could they? Now what?" He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, a habit he'd picked up from Qui- Gon.  
  
Lana sighed. "Whatever we do, be cautious. This is not a good area to be in if you're a law-abiding citizen." She shrugged out of her Jedi robe to reveal the skin-tight black outfit that she wore underneath her robes. She eyed him critically. "You need to change." She yanked off his robes, took off his shirt, mussed up his hair, then stepped back to eye him critically again. "It'll have to do."  
  
"Hey!" He protested. "Now's not the time to get naked, Lana, we're in the middle of a street!" He pushed his hair back to a semi-normal state.  
  
Lana rolled her eyes in exasperation as she rumpled his hair again and shoved his robes on the trash compactor where hers were. "You stick out like a Jedi. In order to get into that warehouse, in order to keep them from killing Obi-Wan on sight of us, we need to blend in. Now swagger, pretend to be drunk and abusive, and I'll get us in that warehouse." She smiled at him.  
  
Kyran rolled his eyes, annoyed. He felt very self conscious walking around without the rest of his clothes. "Can I at least have my undershirt back? I don't exactly have a place to hide my weapon, you know."  
  
She picked his undershirt back up and regarded it. It was a dark green color that brought out his eyes. She didn't see how it could be considered 'Jedi' so she gave it back. "Fine, but we need to get in there. The longer we delay, the more..." she stopped, not wanting to finish.  
  
Kyran quickly put the shirt on. "Thanks. Well, go on, I won't stop you. I'll be right behind you."  
  
Lana sauntered out of the alley and adopted a waver in her step to suggest that she had had too much ale. She sang discorded notes at the top of her lungs, giggled, then glanced back at Kyran. "C'mere, hun," she called, slurring her words. "Come to momma!" She gave a seductive wiggle of her hips and burst out laughing.  
  
"Daughter of a mynock whore," Kyran said, slurring his speech to where it was almost unintelligible. He hiccupped once and stumbled. "Why would I" hiccup "sleep with a whore?"  
  
Lana kept her face from showing her laughter at his impression of a drunken man as she adopted an air of hurt dignity. She stumbled slightly toward him, her chin held in the air. "I'm not a whore. I'm a pro----profesh--one of those who do it often." She walked toward the building again. "No one 'as to know. C'mere..." She was in the doorway now, her senses at high alert as she wagged a finger at Kyran.  
  
"Same diff'ence," Kyran said, his words slurred as he slapped her, using the Force to cushion the blow.  
  
Lana used the slap to roll smoothly into the darkened building, her lightsaber suddenly in her hands and lit. She sensed no one, though there was something... "I sense an echo...but what is it?" she murmured as she looked around the building that was made into a large house. "Can you feel it?" Her Jedi powers were nowhere as good as her husband's.  
  
Kyran frowned slightly. "Obi-Wan isn't here," he said shortly. "But he was in this area. Perhaps it's the echo of his signature that you're feeling."  
  
She shook her head. "Its...more than that..." She walked over to the side of the room and knelt down. Her fingers touched something wet. When she brought her fingers up, she saw that it was blood. She raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps an echo of his pain?"  
  
Kyran hissed at that. "Yes, it could be." He sighed. "Qui-Gon is not going to be happy. If we're lucky, he'll still be asleep when we get back."  
  
It took only a quick search to see that Obi-Wan or his captors were not in the building. Unfortunately, neither were any clues other than an empty syringe. Lana pocketed it. "I'll fly his speeder back." She eyed her husband. "It speaks volumes about whomever had their headquarters here that no one has stripped or stolen that speeder."  
  
Kyran winced. "I suppose so. Well, I suppose that we best get back as soon as possible. The less time we hang around here the better."  
  
Lana nodded. "Grab our stuff on the way out. I'll meet you in front of the Council chambers. They need to be notified."  
  
Kyran nodded. "I love you. Be careful."  
  
She smiled. "Always." Then she hopped into Obi-Wan's speeder to fly it back to the Temple.  
  
Kyran smiled, watching her drive off. He jogged back across the street, grabbed their clothes from where they had stored them, then took off toward the Temple. Qui-Gon was not going to be pleased when he woke up. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

****   
  
Obi-Wan felt as if he had fallen ten stories from an extremely fast speeder. His brain did not want to seem to wake fully and his vision was slightly blurry. He saw people walking around him but couldn't place where he was or what he was doing there. He tried to move, but found that he was strapped down so tightly that he couldn't.  
  
"Ah, awake at last I see, young Kenobi. Welcome back to the land of the living." The voice that addressed him sounded both cold and amused at the same time. "How are you feeling?"  
  
Obi-Wan blinked but his vision did not clear. "I...can't see..."  
  
"Just giving you a bit of practice for how you'll have to learn to live without eyesight," the cold voice said as it jammed a neural stimulator directly into the padawan's eyes. "Have you ever heard of a neural stimulator?"  
  
Obi-Wan suddenly felt a chill run down his back. "No..." He didn't think he wanted to either.  
  
"Well, live and learn," the voice said. "The Jedi are always going on about learning something, aren't they?" He flicked on the red button on the thin silver rod that he held at Obi-Wan's eyes.  
  
It felt as if someone were melting his eyes. Obi-Wan's back arched and he screamed so loudly that he thought for sure that someone in the next ten blocks would hear him. The pain...all his world was pain..._ Master...oh Force....the pain the pain the pain....Master help me help me the pain the pain_....  
  
"Well, I see we learned something today, didn't we, young one? So, not so arrogant after all, are we?" The rod was jammed into Obi-Wan's stomach next and the button was flicked without a second's hesitation.  
  
The pain moved to his stomach and he retched. It felt as if a white blossom of hot pain had struck his stomach muscles, clenching them so tightly that he was soon dry heaving with nothing left in his stomach at all.  
  
"Pain without bodily damage," the voice said cheerfully. "Most ingenious, don't you think? Deliberate stimulation of the nervous system." The man jammed the rod this time into Obi-Wan's foot and thumbed the button, sending a wave of pain shooting up through the padawan's body.  
  
Obi-Wan felt tears running down his face but his world was blackness. The pain hit his brain and he had just registered that it was located in his foot when he mercifully passed out.  
  
The man sighed deeply. "Blast. I wasn't ready for you to pass out yet." He reached for a stimulant and pressed the syringe into the padawan's arm. "You won't escape that easily, Jedi."  
  
Obi-Wan gasped as he was forced awake. "What in the Sith do you want?" was the first thing that Obi-Wan said as his addled brain told him that he had been out of it for not even ten seconds.  
  
"Tsk tsk, Kenobi, swear a Jedi should not," the voice said mockingly.  
  
"What do you want!" Obi-Wan bit out, almost in a shout. He felt mentally and physically exhausted, and pain radiated to him from every pore. He tried to accept it like a Jedi should, to make it part of himself, but he found he was too angry to focus properly. With an effort, he forced the anger down and away from himself.  
  
"For you to die," the cruel voice remarked pleasantly. The neural stimulator had been replaced by a long sliver of metal which he jammed into the padawan's side.  
  
Obi-Wan gasped as the sliver punctured his body and slid into him. "Why..." he forced out, so low that it was nearly inaudible.  
  
"You kept me from getting something I wanted, Kenobi. You directed your Master's attention to me when he otherwise would've ignored what I was doing." The sliver went deeper in the padawan's side.  
  
Obi-Wan cried out and tried to squirm away from the sliver, though he knew it would do nothing to help. "I don't even know who you are! Pathetic to hurt someone who doesn't even know who you are," he gasped out. He prayed to the Force that if he irritated this man then perhaps he would be able to pass out.  
  
The man sighed, exasperated. "True indeed, young Kenobi. My name is Z'ahrien. If you don't remember me, that's too bad."  
  
Obi-Wan felt his eyes widen, though he still could not see. Remember Z'ahrien he did indeed. He had convinced Qui-Gon to prosecute Z'ahrien for what everyone else had believed to be 'accidental' deaths that the Force had told Obi-Wan was in fact intentional. Qui-Gon, after hearing his padawan out, had agreed and Z'ahrien had been found guilty... Obi-Wan frowned. "You were sentenced to death! Why are you still alive?"  
  
"I am not such a fool as to explain my every resource to you, young apprentice. If I gave my secrets away no doubt you would thwart me. I have no intention of letting that occur twice."  
  
"I didn't thwart you! You were guilty of thirty-five people burning to death!" Obi-Wan yelled, losing his temper.  
  
"So I shall add one more to the list," the man replied with sudden venom in his voice.  
  
Obi-Wan felt the Force prickling around him. Master!!He tried to brace himself, not knowing what was coming.  
  
"Time for you to die," Z'aherin said. The man pushed a button and the table Obi-Wan was strapped to began to heat underneath him.  
  
Obi-Wan involuntarily flinched away from the source of heat. He yelled until he was hoarse as he felt the flesh on his backside begin to blister and burn. Idly, his brain thought, _I was just healed for burns on my chest...Healer Anya will not be happy about this_... Then his yells became a silent scream of pain that blocked all thought and left him in a cage of misery until he sank so deeply into unconsciousness that he was aware of nothing.  
  
Z'aherin sighed. He didn't want to kill the apprentice yet. He still had too much left to do. It was regrettable that the apprentice had passed out so soon. He barked a harsh order and two servants quickly unstrapped Obi-Wan from the table and carried him off.

* * *

Obi-Wan's mental scream sliced through her mind. Lana winced and staggered, noticing vaguely that Kyran had staggered as well. They were both back at the Temple, having just parked the speeders. She glanced at her husband. As one, they said, "Qui-Gon." They raced through the Temple, ignoring the stares they were drawing in their unJedilike apparel. Finally, they skidded to a halt outside Qui-Gon's room."Un...lock..." Lana panted as Anya came up to them. Glancing at them, without saying a word, she obeyed. Lana and Kyran ran into Qui-Gon's room and to their un-complete surprise saw him awake.  
  
Qui-Gon's jaw was set and his arms folded across his chest in a very stubborn manner. He didn't look in their direction as they came in the room. He was struggling to control his anger at being sedated against his will and rendered helpless while his padawan was in so much pain.  
  
Lana glanced at her friend. "Qui-Gon, we..."  
  
"I don't want to hear it," he said coldly, in a voice that sounded like he was recovering quite nicely but still had a little farther to go.  
  
Lana was scared at the look on his face so she quieted.  
Kyran, however, plowed on. "Qui-Gon, the healers did what was needed. We didn't find Obi-Wan, but we think that his captors..."  
  
"They're killing him," Qui-Gon replied in the same cold tone. "And I am forcefully being imprisoned against my will while my padawan requires my assistance. 'The healers do what is best', do they? " He laughed humorlessly. "I fail to see how letting my Obi-Wan get killed is for 'the best'."  
  
"You need rest," Lana started to say, a firm tone to her voice, gaining her confidence again.  
  
"And exactly how am I supposed to get any rest while my padawan's pain is so strong it can disrupt even the medications that I was given?" he shot back darkly.  
  
Lana swallowed, unable to come up with an answer. If even she felt Obi-Wan's pain with having little talent or training then it spoke volumes to what the poor boy was going through...and what Qui-Gon had felt.  
Kyran, though, felt the stirrings of anger. "Look," he told his best friend, "we went to where he went last to try to find him. All we found was blood and a syringe. Nothing can be done right now..."  
  
"I'm not interested, Josel," Qui-Gon said flatly. "If you don't trust me enough to include me in this investigation then you don't need to be telling me anything, obviously. You kept me under, forcefully preventing me from assisting my padawan into a healing trance, or any other sort of assistance at all."  
  
Kyran folded his arms. "I did not know that Obi-Wan was in that much danger. Usually padawans are not harmed, or not by much, while the master is contacted by the captors. It was not done on purpose or against you, Qui- Gon. You're acting childish."  
  
"Is that so, Jedi Josel? Well, maybe it might surprise you, but as his Master I have a link with the boy. I can get a fix on his location, as well as feel his pain. You did not have the knowledge because you did not request, or want, my assistance," Qui-Gon snapped.  
  
"You're taking this the wrong way," Kyran snapped back, his face heating. "You were really injured and needed the rest. And if left to your own, irresponsible self you would have neglected yourself. Again! You cannot sit there and tell me that your body did not need it!"  
  
"Kyran..." Lana said, trying to calm him down, but when he glared at her, she quieted once more.  
  
Qui-Gon's gaze hardened in anger. "So, that's the root of the issue is it? I am irresponsible and need to be looked after. I see. Perhaps you don't see this, Jedi Josel, but I did earn my title of Master and I am one for a reason. I am fully capable of looking after myself and I don't appreciate being treated like a padawan. What my personal choices are are mine own. Obi-Wan is young and has his whole life to live. Mine is insignificant in comparison. I would rather see him live a full life. Mine has been full enough." He winced suddenly at the pain in his throat. He'd been talking for a good while.  
  
Kyran fairly boiled. In a deadly quiet voice, he said, "So, you are saying that I do not have my title of master yet because I have not earned it? I have not risked life and death for others? I have not lived the Jedi Code? Is that what you are insinuating?"  
  
Lana stepped in front of Qui-Gon. "Look, you two..."  
  
"No, Lana," Qui-Gon said coldly. He directed his next comment to Kyran. "That is not what I'm insinuating at all. You took it out of context. I think you know perfectly well what I meant. And in case you missed it, what I meant was that it should be obvious to you that I don't need a babysitter. I can make my own personal choices."  
  
Kyran pointed a finger at his friend and it shook with repressed anger. "You make your choices then, and the next time that you end up dead because of them, I won't mourn you." His commlink buzzed and he barked into it, "What?!"  
  
Qui-Gon's jaw dropped for a second, startled at what his friend had just said to him. Then he ruthlessly pushed his deeply hurt feelings behind his iron mental shields. His face smoothed out and became an unreadable mask. Kyran's sharp words had hurt him deeply. He reached out to the Force, blocking Kyran out of his mind: something he hadn't done since he was a very young knight.  
  
Kyran glared at him as he waited for the person on the comlink to respond. He felt what his friend had done.  
Lana was in shock. She had seen them upset before, but never like this.  
  
"Rude that was," Yoda's voice finally said on the other end of the comm. "Rein in your anger you will."  
  
Kyran groaned inwardly. Of all the Jedi Masters to call... "Apologies, Master Yoda," he said contritely. "I was trying to explain to Qui-Gon about personal responsibility. As usual he hasn't seemed to learn. I need to see you, and preferably the whole Council," he changed tracks. "Obi-Wan is missing."  
  
"Aware of that I am. Danger Obi-Wan is in. Seen it, I have."  
  
Kyran was nodding. "Did you see...the outcome?" Despite his anger at his friend, he glanced at Qui-Gon in concern.  
  
"Clouded Obi-Wan's future is...but his death I saw," Yoda said in a worried voice.  
  
Lana gasped; she couldn't help herself. Obi-Wan was a sweet boy who tried hard not to anger anyone or make enemies. "Who...who would kill him? Why?" she whispered, half in shock.  
  
Qui-Gon grabbed the comlink from Kyran, determined not to be left out of the conversation. "I request permission to be allowed to look for my apprentice, Master Yoda. Especially under these circumstances where my services are needed."  
  
There was a pause. Finally, Yoda said, "Come to the Council all of you should. Discuss this more we will."  
  
Qui-Gon frowned a little at that. "You'll have to get Healer Anya to unlock the door," he said, a trifle irritated.  
  
Anya, forgotten at the door, smiled weakly. "It will be locked no longer."  
  
"I will be there as soon as I can get out of these horrible clothes, Master Yoda," Qui-Gon promptly said.  
  
The aged Jedi Master gave a soft sound that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. "Delay, you should not. Waiting for you we will be." Then the comlink was off.Kyran turned to face his friend. "We'll be waiting outside," he said stiffly. He grabbed Lana's arm and guided her out of the room.  
  
Qui-Gon nodded curtly and changed back into his own clothes, grateful that the small Master had agreed with him. He headed out where he found Lana and Kyran waiting for him.  
  
Lana walked between the two silent Jedi as they got in a turbolift to the Council chambers. It was a tense silence all the ride up. Finally, she couldn't stand it anymore. She jabbed the emergency stop button and they bounced to a halt. Ignoring the two men's surprised looks, she rounded on them and said, "Look, both of you have been friends since you were very little. You've been through a lot together—you've nearly died for each other in time's past. Now you are both acting more childish than I've ever seen you! "Kyran!" She pointed at her husband. "While some of what you said needed to be said, it should not have been said in your tone of voice and manner. And your last comment was entirely unnecessary.  
"Qui-Gon!" Now she pointed at him. "Search your feelings and not your anger when you think of the concern of your friends and the healers. It was a mistake: we've learned that now, but did not know it then. Can't you two just forgive each other? Obi-Wan would want you to be united to find him." A tear coursed down her cheek, but she did not back down.  
  
"How would I know what my padawan would want? I'm just his Master," Qui-Gon said grumpily, wincing as his throat started bothering him. He hoped silently that it wouldn't embarrass him in front of the Council.  
  
Lana narrowed her eyes, yet her tone was gentle. "Oh, Qui, don't do this to yourself or us. You know Obi-Wan better than any of us because of your bond. Can you two please forgive each other?"  
  
"Perhaps after we rescue my apprentice," he said, trying to figure out how to start the lift tube again. "Right now every minute we are delayed endangers his life. I will be happy to discuss things at a later date."  
  
Lana sighed, but knew that for now that was as good as she'd get. Easily, she punched the turbolift controls and they started sliding smoothly up again. "At least act civil toward each other," she muttered, crossing her arms.  
  
"I am being civil," Qui-Gon said dryly. "We haven't killed each other, have we?"  
  
Lana snickered in spit of herself, and she noticed Kyran hiding a smile as the doors opened.

* * *

Qui-Gon tucked his arms into the sleeves of his robe as he stood in the center of the Council room a little distance away from Lana and Kyran. He bowed deeply to the Council.  
  
Master Yoda noticed the distance but refrained from commenting. "Great danger we sense. Time to waste we have not. Find you anything, Knight Josel?"  
  
Kyran stepped forward and shook his head. "We discovered he was not in the warehouse that we had hoped he would be in. There was an echo of his pain where we discovered a syringe and a bloodstain."  
  
Lana promptly took the syringe out of her pocket and held it up for the Masters to see. She felt a slight tug in the Force and released it as Mace Windu called it to him to examine it.  
After a moment, the dark-skinned Jedi breathed, "I know where these are made."  
  
Qui-Gon frowned curiously at Mace. "Where? Do you think he was taken where those were made?"  
  
"Difficult to see it is," Yoda said. The three Jedi standing in the middle of the room turned to see him, his chin pointed up slightly, his eyes closed, as he shifted through the future of the Force. "Certain nothing is."  
  
"I request to go immediately and look for him," Qui-Gon said, ignoring the fact that he was still technically supposed to remain in the Healer's wing and not authorized for release outside of the Temple.  
  
Yoda's eyes snapped open. "Released you are not," the little troll pointed out.  
  
Kyran took a step forward. "Masters, I believe that Qui-Gon..." he glanced at his friend "...that he should go. He's the only one that really help find Obi-Wan. If we go to where the syringes are made and Obi-Wan is on planet, Qui-Gon would know. I ask that he accompany us."  
  
"He still has healing to do." Mace frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "I sense that you had a discussion about this before you arrived. He is to stay behind."  
  
Now Lana stepped beside her husband and her eyes were fierce. "Obi- Wan could die in the time it would take for us to find him!" She cried bluntly. "Qui-Gon needs to come, Masters. Obi-Wan will need him."  
After a moment, Mace sighed deeply. "Very well. You are authorized to go look for your apprentice. We require you check in with the Healers every twelve hours, and with us."  
  
Kyran and Lana bowed. "Thank you, Masters," they chorused in relief. Neither wanted to think of Qui-Gon breaking out of the healers again.  
  
Qui-Gon bowed to the Council and headed out. He was very irritated at the need to check in every few hours like he was an initiate incapable of taking care of himself. Kyran speaking up on his behalf had surprised him, especially considering the animosity that had happened between them before the Council meeting.  
  
"Qui! Wait up!" Lana shouted as she and Kyran left the Council as well. "When you left, Mace told us to go to the planet Dangree. We are cleared to leave as soon as we are able."  
  
"Good," he said shortly. "I suppose I'll check in with the Healers before I leave." He clenched his teeth at the idea.  
  
"Well, the Jedi Council gave you permission to leave so they can't make you stay, right?" Lana tried to cheer him up, smiling uncertainly.  
  
He half-smiled in return, appreciating her positive outlook. "Yes. I'll go get my things together. I'll be ready in twenty minutes."  
  
Lana seemed relieved that he wasn't going to yell at her. "Kyran will get us a ship while I run and get our things together." She glanced at Kyran and he nodded.  
  
Qui-Gon nodded and headed for his quarters to pack his things. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**  
  
Obi-Wan fought against the stimulant. He knew pain was at the end of wakefulness and he didn't want to feel it. Desperately, he clung to the Force, hoping to stay unconscious, but then he felt himself slipping more in the Force than he wanted. With a shock, he realized that he was dying.  
With a jerk, he let go and let the stimulant slam him awake. His whole body ached, but not as bad as he thought. He could taste bacta on his tongue, though he could not see still.  
  
Z'aherin smiled tightly, seeing the young Jedi waken. "So glad you decided to rejoin us. I didn't want to let you slip away so easily, young Jedi."  
  
Obi-Wan wanted to shudder, but had literally no strength to do so. Every slow movement was an effort that felt as if it would push him back into unconsciousness. "Let me go." His voice was hoarse and low but he knew that Z'aherin heard him.  
  
"Oh, I'll let you go eventually, but perhaps not where you wish to go," he said wickedly.  
  
Obi-Wan tried to squirm out of his tight bonds, yet found no purchase. He was tired, but he focused somewhere inside of himself and pushed the man away from him. "Stay...away..."  
  
Z'aherin stumbled a few feet, but soon recovered himself. "You will pay most dearly for that trick, Kenobi." He picked up a small cylinder and adjusted a knob on the side. A small jet of flame shot out which he adjusted to suit his purposes. He held the two inch flame at the Padawan's side.  
  
Obi-Wan tried to yell but his voice cracked and would make no noise. The heat felt like the time he had spilled two chemicals in one of his classes together that had flamed in his face. He tried to focus to push Z'aherin away again, but could barely keep his consciousness.  
  
Z'aherin moved the torch slowly along the padawan's side, admiring the effect it was having on his prisoner. This boy would pay for what he had done.  
  
With a sudden burst of desperation, Obi-Wan held himself away from the blissful darkness. He was tiring of being this man's object of torture. It was time to see if he would be one with the Force, or if the Force would spare him. With an actual physical grunt, Obi-Wan formed the Force around himself like a miniature shield which shoved Z'aherin against what sounded like a wall by the thud. The shield flickered, then went out as Obi-Wan sagged, totally spent. At least he knew he had died fighting like a Jedi, he thought as he passed into the arms of unconsciousness once again.  
  
Z'aherin glared at the apprentice as he was pushed across the room and hit the opposite wall again. His charge had passed out, yet he was unconcerned at the moment. He frowned thoughtfully, studying the many options he had available to him. He reached out and selected a box after replacing the torch back on his table and turning it off. He opened the box and smiled at what he saw inside. Thousands of silver needles that were perfect for probing nerves. Grimly the man took a pinch of the flesh on Obi- Wan's right foot. He jammed the needles into the boy's tender flesh one by one. When he was finished, he surveyed his handiwork. The boy's foot was a forest of silver needles.  
  
Suddenly, Obi-Wan could see again. Curiously, he was floating above himself, watching Z'aherin cover his nerves with silver needles. He winced, though he didn't feel the pain. That would hurt when he woke up.  
He glanced down at his unconscious self, mostly healed burns on his back, fresh bubbling burns on his side and a white scar running across his eyes. He had to admit that he had looked better. He sighed, feeling tired, then actually took a look at himself. His eyes widened in shock. He was transparent, though he seemed solid enough. Was he...dead?  
No, he assured himself as he saw his body's chest rise in a shallow breath, but he was close to it. Curious...his master had never told him about something like this. _Master, help me...  
_  
_ Padawan!? Where are you?_Qui-Gon glanced over at his companions, then ignored them completely as he waited for Obi-Wan's answer.  
  
Obi-Wan turned his back on Z'aherin and whatever the man was doing to his unconscious body. _Currently, floating above myself in a large room_,he observed. The room had cluttered torture objects everywhere and there was the body of a man in the corner leaking blood that hadn't been moved yet._ Don't think I'm dead yet though_.He tried to put a note of humor into his voice, but failed.  
  
_ Yet?_Qui-Gon's mental voice sent back, alarmed at his padawan's words._ I'll be there soon, Obi-Wan, please hold on..._He sent a strong wave of warmth and strength to the boy.  
  
Obi-Wan felt himself being swept away by his master's love. He swirled in the air, and suddenly found that he could no longer see again. With dismay, he put the pieces together—he was back in his body where pain waited for him. Quickly, he sank into unconsciousness to escape it.  
  
Qui-Gon let out a relieved sigh, then turned to Kyran. "Is this as fast as this ship can go?"  
  
Kyran nodded curtly. "I'm coaxing all I can out of her. We'll be arriving in four hours."  
  
Qui-Gon swore viciously. "Four hours? He could be dead by then."  
  
Lana stepped into the cockpit. "Qui, Kyran is going as fast as he dares push the ship. The engines are already overheating," she told him quietly.  
  
"I know." He ran a hand through his long hair absently. He stood up abruptly and headed out of the cockpit. He had to release the tension somehow. He turned his saber on low power and began doing katas he'd learned as a padawan in the galley of the ship.  
  
Kyran slowly walked in, his lightsaber in his hand. He knew that Qui- Gon preferred to spar to clear his mind. Without a word, Kyran dropped into a defensive stance and waited on his friend.  
  
Qui-Gon arched a brow. "Are you sure this is a good place for a sparring match? There's not exactly a whole lot of room to maneuver, you know," he pointed out.  
  
Kyran gave him a small smile, keeping himself at the ready. "What, trying to get out of it already?" he joked.  
  
Qui-Gon rolled his eyes and lunged at Kyran. "No, but I do want to have some furniture around here intact."  
  
Kyran easily blocked Qui-Gon's lunge and spun around to hit him on the shoulder. "Nah, it just makes things more of a challenge. Don't you like challenges?"  
  
"Once in awhile," Qui-Gon said, wincing at the pain as Kyran got him on the shoulder. He lashed out with his long legs, sticking a foot in the middle of Kyran's footwork.  
  
Kyran stumbled and quickly tried to recover by swinging his lightsaber around in a broad arch to protect himself.  
  
Qui-Gon dodged the arch by ducking away and aimed for Kyran's middle, trying to pin him against the wall.  
  
Kyran saw what he was doing, and completed a low flip, his head brushing the ceiling, to land behind Qui-Gon. He quickly thrust lightly at his friend. He had his lightsaber on low because he did not want to hurt him.  
  
Qui-Gon tried to turn and dodge, but found he had no room to maneuver. His mind raced as he tried to figure a way out of the box he'd caught himself in.  
  
Kyran smiled. It wasn't often he beat his best friend in lightsaber sparring. He turned his lightsaber off and bowed. "Point." He relit it. "Again?" 


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

****   
  
Z'aherin stared at his captive as he floated in bacta. It was almost time for the boy to come out. He realized that the boy had nearly escaped him again, so he'd decided to heal him a bit. It was almost time for a bit more enjoyment, however.   
He noted that the padawan's injuries were partially healed, and he eyed Obi-Wan critically. He barked an order and two of his servants rushed forward to get the apprentice out of the pink fluid.  
  
The servants carefully lifted the limp young man out of the tank and carried him down the steps to the floor where Z'aherin waited. As they again strapped him to an upright table, he stirred slightly, though it was clear that in order for him to regain consciousness he would require added help.  
  
Z'aherin shook his head. "Are you completely incompetent? My orders were to chain him standing."  
  
The servants mutely obeyed. The boy's muscled arms soon hung from strong chains, his unconscious weight straining the muscles.  
  
"Now get out of here!" Z'aherin barked at the servants, who quickly scurried off. He injected a stimulant into the padawan's arm to bring him around. "Time to wake up, Kenobi."  
  
Obi-Wan snapped awake and, although he still couldn't see, he narrowed his eyes. "Still taking out your anger on me?" he said. Even though his voice was hoarse, it was also cold. "I thought by now you'd have found something better to do." His contact, however brief, with his master had made him bolder.  
  
"This is merely for my amusement, Kenobi. I've been finished taking my anger out long ago. Even us criminals have our hobbies, you know," he said pleasantly.  
  
"You need to get a new hobby," Obi-Wan shot back. Now that he knew his master was coming, he was determined to find a way out of this place. Without his sight, it would be hard, but he'd just have to rely on the Force more, that was all.  
  
"New hobbies are so overrated, young apprentice." Z'aherin examined a long, thin rod with sharp points sticking out at various intervals, rather like an Alderaanian rose stem with no flower. He suddenly swung the rod viciously into the padawan's exposed back.  
  
Obi-Wan cried out as the barbs bit into his flesh. He felt the flesh of his back give way and he bit his lip to keep his cry from becoming a wail.  
  
Z'aherin continued to rain blows steadily onto the padawan's back, stopping only when blood ran down Obi-Wan's backside in a stream. He surveyed his handiwork, then put down the rod and walked over to his shelf to pick up a small bottle. He unscrewed the cap and sniffed experimentally. Perfect. Without further thought he poured the liquid down the padawan's back.  
  
Obi-Wan screamed. He couldn't help it. The liquid was hot, it burned, it sizzled his flesh, it irritated the open wounds already there. His scream was long and drawn out. He only stopped when his voice totally gave out.  
  
"Pitten got your tongue, young Obi-Wan?" Z'aherin said, grinning wickedly at how the apprentice had stopped screaming.  
  
Obi-Wan hung from the chains, exhausted and spent. All he could manage was a weak glare.  
  
Z'aherin put the bottle back on the shelf. He mustn't waste it, after all, on the first try. He was pleased the concoction he had invented had worked. "Well, have a bit of rest, Kenobi. Even terrorists have things to take care of once in awhile." He strode out of the room, whistling, leaving Obi-Wan semi-conscious in the empty room.  
  
Z'aherin eyed the apprentice, who was still hanging by his arms. He walked around, studying the many options before him. He picked up the small cylinder and adjusted the knob on the side so the two inch flame shot out. "Ah, rest time is over, I think, Kenobi."  
  
Obi-Wan thought that he could sense his master somewhere nearby. Was he onplanet? The thought gave Obi-Wan more courage. He swam to full consciousness just in time to hear Z'aherin's words and let a smirk play on his lips. "Oh, but I was having fun hanging here by chains," he croaked out, his voice nearly gone. His arms were straining, the muscles over- stretched and tight, aching with his body weight.  
  
"Well, I wasn't planning on taking your enjoyment of that away from you anytime soon," his captor said pleasantly as he touched the two inch flame along the very edge of one of the padawan's gashes that was on his back.  
  
Obi-Wan was too physically and mentally exhausted to do much more than squirm as he wept from the hot pain of the flame.  
  
Z'aherin continued running the flame along the edges of the padawan's burns until he was sure that he'd gotten them all. After surveying his handiwork he turned the dial and the flame ceased. He lovingly picked up a sharp hook and thrust it into the padawan's back on one of his cuts for experimentation to see if he could get a stronger reaction.  
  
A scream tore itself from Obi-Wan's throat. He screamed so loudly from the pain of having his burned, cut flesh lifted by a sharp hook that he was sure, again, that he could be heard within the next ten blocks. He quickly passed out, the arms of the Force reaching for him.... It would be so easy...so peaceful...no pain...to be One with the Force...  
  
Z'aherin smiled as he watched Obi-Wan pass out. It was time to check on other things.

* * *

Qui-Gon froze as he heard a scream that he knew to be Obi-Wan's drift to his ears. His blood ran cold at the amount of pain he could both hear and sense in Obi-Wan's voice. He swallowed hard, wincing, and knew that he had to hurry to find him. He reached out to the Force, urging his padawan to hold on just a little longer...  
  
Obi-Wan felt Qui-Gon beckoning him away from the Force's comforting light. He hesitated, then backed away. His master would save him. He sank into a deep unconsciousness that allowed his body to barely breathe. 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Lana ran screaming from the frightening visage behind her. She didn't stop running until she had gotten to the gates of the compound. "Help me! Help me! Oh, help help help!" she said, sobbing as she saw men moving toward her. She glanced behind her at the approaching, distorted figure. Her screams became higher. "Hurry! Help me!"  
Kyran growled deep in his throat and continued his own march steadily after his wif,e although he was inwardly trying very hard not to laugh at how easily the guard was taken in by her sobbing.

The guard stood, dumbstruck and staring, not knowing what to do with a sobbing, terrified woman. "Uh, is there anything I can do to help?"

"Help me!" She screamed right in his face, her tone sounding as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She pointed behind her shoulder. "He's after me, he is! Won't leave me alone! You've got to help me!" She threw herself on the guard and attached herself so tightly to him that he couldn't reach for his gun.

The guard stood, stammering. "Uh...ma'am, if you'll just let go of me for a moment, I'll open the door so you can have a safer place to hide...you'll be safe over the side of the fence."

Lana nodded frantically. She let go of the guard and wrung her hands, keeping a worried expression on her face as she checked Kyran's progress toward her. She had timed her little franticness to catch the compound right before the guard's reinforcement would come to assist him on duty. They had to get inside to see if Qui-Gon had made it in yet and, if not, help him to find Obi-Wan. "Hurry! Hurry!" she shrieked as Kyran was only a few steps from her.

The guard quickly punched in the code and ushered her inside. "You'll be safe in there."

"Oh, thank you!" Lana said, then clubbed him over the head with the butt of her lightsaber. He sank to her feet, out cold, as Kyran drew up beside her.

She smiled up at him. "Hello, you big, scary man," she joked as she closed the gate behind him.

"Now, that's not a nice thing to say to your husband." He grinned.  
Lana gave him a suggestive look. "Maybe by most women..." She trailed off and winked. Suddenly, a loud scream echoed across the courtyard that they were in. It was filled with prolonged anguish and suffering. She whipped her head toward the sound and noticed a partially opened window on the second floor. "Obi-Wan," she said at once.

Kyran nodded, his expression tight. He and Lana ran into the compound, bypassing startled guards, and headed rapidly down the end of the corridor he found himself in. He wondered if Qui-Gon had heard Obi-Wan's scream, though he was certain his friend had. He turned a corner and nearly ran headlong into his friend who was coming from the other direction.

"Obi-Wan," all three of them chorused.

"Second floor," Lana informed Qui-Gon, then found herself having to sprint to keep up with Qui-Gon as he flew up a set of stairs to the second floor.

Qui-Gon took the steps three at a time. It was easy with his long legs. Obi-Wan needed him. A powerful burst of the Force took care of the few guards standing in place at the front of the door and his lightsaber took care of the lock. He burst through the door—and his heart nearly stopped at the sight of his padawan hanging limply. The smell of burned flesh filled the air.

Lana gasped at the sight of the unconscious Obi-Wan, blood dripping down his back, skin blackened and bubbled with burns, rips in his flesh. Anger surged in her and she scanned the room, though did not see a single person other than a dead body in the corner. "Where is the one responsible?" she whispered, suppressed rage in her voice.  
Qui-Gon shook his head. "That doesn't matter." He quickly strode over to his padawan and very gently used the lightsaber to cut him out of his chains. "Obi-Wan?" he murmured gently. "He needs medical attention immediately," Qui-Gon said in a louder voice.

"Well, take him then," came a cold voice from a high window above them. A silhouette of a man stood there. "He has no more use for me. But know this, Jedi, I will rest only when he has died." As quickly as the man appeared, he was gone.

Qui-Gon growled deep in his throat as the person responsible for harming his Obi-Wan was going to be allowed to get away. He sighed. He knew that he wouldn't have time to get to the window and take off after him. He would have to be brought to justice another day, a fact which irritated Qui-Gon greatly. "Let's go home," he said, rather irritably.

Tenderly, Kyran helped Qui-Gon carry the severally injured padawan while Lana had her lightsaber out, guarding them. They met little to no resistance...until they came to the courtyard. The guard that Lana had knocked out was staggering around, his hand on his head, while twenty other men stood, their blasters pointed directly at the three Jedi. "This might be a problem..." Lana murmured as the lead guard yelled, "Halt! You will return the prisoner immediately, or you will all be cut down!"

Qui-Gon inhaled sharply, wondering how they could possibly get themselves out of this mess. He focused on the guard in front of him and arched a brow. "It's alright, you have permission to go."

The guard paused for a moment as he mentally fought off the Force suggestion. As he did so, a lieutenant took up the order. "Yes, you can go. But the boy stays." All twenty trigger fingers tightened slightly.

"Sorry, lieutenant. I'm afraid we're a package deal." Qui-Gon tightened his grip on the boy, refusing to let go.

"Fire!" The lieutenant yelled. Lana's lightsaber was out and flashing, but she wasn't fully trained. She knew that she couldn't protect all three of them. Sure enough, soon a blaster bolt had snuck in on her defenses and slammed into her leg. She grunted in pain, but kept her lightsaber swinging. Kyran let go of Obi-Wan's dangling feet and helped his wife as the three Jedi slowly edged forward into the courtyard.

"We just want the boy!" One of the other officers yelled. "Put him down and you can go free!"

Qui-Gon grunted as he gathered Obi-Wan's weight more fully to himself. He shifted position to where he had a better grip on the Padawan and used the Force to cushion the boy's injuries to keep them from hurting him further. He ran for the gate, determined to get his Obi-Wan out, knowing he'd have to leap over the fence in order to do so and that it would be difficult with his injured Obi-Wan in his arms.

Lana leaped behind Qui-Gon, blocking bolts as she went. She flipped over his head as he neared the gate and stabbed the controls with her orange blade. The gates creaked open slowly.

Qui-Gon nodded at her briefly as he ran, grateful that he wouldn't have to make the jump. He put on a burst of Force assisted speed and made it quickly back to their ship, pausing just long enough to let the ramp down. He knew his friends were close behind him as he gently placed Obi-Wan on the medical bunk and ran to the controls to get them out of there.

Kyran rushed up to the ship, then turned as he heard a cry. Lana had fallen, a second blaster bolt in her leg close to the first. She tried to stand, but her leg would not hold her weight so she started to crawl determinedly through the haze of blaster bolts. "Get us ready to get out of here!" he yelled toward the cockpit, then ran down, scooped up his wife amid the barrage of blaster bolts and sped back up the ramp. "Go, go, go!"

Qui-Gon pushed the throttle as far as it would go, causing the ship to rocket towards the atmosphere. A few more minutes and he'd punched in the coordinates for Coruscant. The stars flared into the starlines of hyperspace. He let out a long, slow breath of relief.


	7. Chapter 7 Conclusion

Chapter Seven

Healer apprentice Anya sighed as she surveyed the young man floating in the bacta tank. This was going to test all of her healing abilities to get Obi-Wan's eyesight back. If she was honest with herself, she would have to admit that she really didn't think that he'd get his sight back, the damage was just too much. Footsteps sounded behind her, intruding into her thoughts, and she composed her face to reveal nothing as she turned around.

Qui-Gon stared at his apprentice floating in the tank and sighed. "How is he?" he asked Anya.

She cleared her throat and gestured to a small, sound-proof room. "I think we should go discuss Obi-Wan's condition in here," she tried to say tactfully.

Qui-Gon frowned a little but nodded and followed her silently into the room. He folded his arms across his chest and stared at her. "What's his condition?"

"Well..." she hesitated. "He's blind. And that is the one thing that I do not know if I can heal. Other than that, his other numerous wounds will take time; I'm guessing two weeks."

Qui-Gon winced. "Blind?" he echoed in dismay, shaking his head sadly. His padawan hated the Healers wing and he knew Obi-Wan would not be pleased to stay here for two weeks. He knew Obi-Wan could be a Jedi even without his eyesight...but...what if he could never again see the sun? Or see a rainbow on a rainy day?

Anya nodded somberly. "Blind. But there is one thing I can try...It's risky though..."

Qui-Gon toyed with his beard. "Yes? It's probably not as much of a risk as being blind all his life," he said with a deep sigh.

She hesitated again. "Probably more so. It involves this." She held up a small, cylindrical object that had a light at the end of it. "It's called a laser beam and it's similar to your lightsaber, but this is supposed to be able to fix things in the body. No one here has used it before. If my hand shakes...or if I lose concentration..." she trailed off.

He frowned a little. "Perhaps Han'yaie could assist in you keeping your concentration?" He winced as his throat began bothering him again.

She glanced away. "Master Han'yaie....he does not want me to do this. It is entirely your decision. I would ask Obi-Wan, but he hasn't regained consciousness and I need to do this as quickly as possible."

Qui-Gon toyed with his beard for several long minutes before finally replying, "Do it. If it is the will of the Force that he be healed, then he will be."

Anya nodded once and gestured for him to precede her out of the door. "I need to get him out of the tanks right away then..." she had started to say, when she stopped. Her Jedi Master, Han'yaie, was standing there, his arms folded. "Hello, Master Han'yaie," she said weakly. Did she dare risk her master's wrath to possibly save a fellow Jedi's eyesight?

Qui-Gon stepped smoothly between them. "I asked her to help heal Obi-Wan's eyesight. If the Force wills it, she can heal him. If not...then we must follow the will of the Force," he said before Han'yaie could even open his mouth.

Han'yaie did not look pleased, but he was a sensible man and so thought about Qui-Gon's words...and his padawan's actions. She never acted rashly, always moving with the Force in her healing. Could this be done?

He had no idea.

"Then I will do it," he decided abruptly. "Anya can assist me." He turned and barked orders at two other healers. "Get Obi-Wan prepped for surgery immediately! We need to do this now."

They promptly obeyed. He turned back to Qui-Gon. "I need you, Qui-Gon, to stay near us. You will be the one to help us from Obi-Wan's point of view."

Qui-Gon nodded and headed after Han'yaie. "I will be happy to assist however I can."

Soon Obi-Wan was laying, drugged, on an operating table. The Healers didn't give him much anesthesia since he had still not gained consciousness, but they wanted to make sure that he didn't decide to come awake as they were pointing a laserbeam into his eyes. He might startle and his eyes might become permanently damaged—should they not already be so.

Han'yaie adjusted the beam on the cylinder to a very fine, narrow red strip and bent over Obi-Wan. Through the Force, he could _feel_ the damage to Obi-Wan's eyes. Only a neural stimulator could have caused his nerves to sueter together like they did. It would take precision work to use the laser to separate the nerves again. Then it would be up to the Force if the boy would ever see again. "Focus, Qui-Gon," he murmured, most of his attention on his hands and the foggy blue eyes that he was working on.

Qui-Gon reached out to the Force and drew it to him, wrapping it around him like a cloak. He reached out to his padawan, willing him to be healed and surrounding him in love and comfort.

Eight long hours later, Han'yaie straightened slowly. He sighed. "That's all I can do, from the Force and this new device. We'll have to wait until he wakes again, and with his injuries his mind might be shut down to keep him from feeling the pain. He might not even know that he has been rescued. You know what to do, I'm sure, Master Jinn." The Healer purposely used Qui-Gon's title to stress his thoughts. "Though I think you should rest first," Han'yaie added. "It will be okay to leave him for a day to recover more."

Qui-Gon stared at Obi-Wan, frowning thoughtfully. Though he nodded at the master healer he knew that he wouldn't get any rest with the suspense of not knowing about his padawan's eyes. "I'll sit with him. I'll step out to grab something to eat first..." he said automatically, but then frowned, hoping that there would be something in the dining hall soft enough for him to eat.

Han'yaie laid a hand on his shoulder. "I have some stew that you can have. I can't eat it all. It's in my office. Why don't you go on in and eat it?"

Qui-Gon nodded gratefully. "Thank you very much." He stepped out and headed for Han'yaie's office. He spied the stew still steaming hot at his desk and sat down to begin eating it, knowing he would need his strength in order to help his padawan heal his eyesight.

After a few minutes, Kyran knocked softly and poked his head in. "Han'yaie said you'd be in here," he said, fighting to keep exhaustion from his tone. He had been sitting beside Lana's bacta tank all night, not sleeping as his wife's leg healed. She was due to be released later that afternoon.

"He's pretty smart, our Chief Healer," Qui-Gon said around a mouthful of stew, trying not to wince as he swallowed.

Kyran chuckled. "Sometimes I think he's the Grandfather of all the Jedi."

Qui-Gon smirked, and then frowned, realizing he had nothing to drink. He grabbed a spare cup sitting nearby and filled it with water from the sink in Han'yaie's office.

"How's Lana?" he asked after he'd taken several long swallows from the glass.

Kyran smiled tiredly. "She'll heal quickly. The bacta has repaired most of it already. She should be out soon." He grew concerned. "I tried to find you but someone said you were with Obi-Wan in surgery. What happened?"

"Obi-Wan was hit in the eyes with a neural stimulator," Qui-Gon informed him heavily.

Kyran winced. "And?"

"We had to use a new method of surgery to try and repair his eyes. I had to be there to help Obi-Wan's body heal itself," he said, taking another bite.

"So Obi-Wan still hasn't woken, then?" Kyran inquired, sitting up straighter in his concern.

Qui-Gon shook his head negative. "I'm going back as soon as I finish totry to help bring him around."

Kyran frowned. "Need help with anything? Want me to report to the Council for you? They called me, wanting to know what was going on."

"The Council can wait, but you can inform them if you like. No, I'll be fine. It's not like I'd be able to rest knowing he's in that condition anyway."

Kyran nodded as his comlink beeped. "Josel here," he answered promptly, rolling his eyes, knowing whom it would be.

"Master Josel, how is the situation with Obi-Wan and your wife Lana?" Mace Windu's voice came over the comm. "Is there any improvement?"

Kyran glanced over at Qui-Gon, still slurping on stew. "Lana should be released soon, Mace. Obi-Wan..." he hesitated. "You need to talk to Qui-Gon to get all of that."

Qui-Gon scowled. The last thing he felt like doing was talking to the Council. He sighed. "I'll report to the Council chambers immediately. This information is best conveyed in person," he said as he put down his spoon.

"We'll be awaiting your arrival," Mace said, taking it in stride. "Come on in without reporting to the junior aide. Mace out."

Qui-Gon turned off the comlink and sighed. He stood up, knowing he wouldn't have time to finish his meal. _The Council could comm at most inconvenient times_, he reflected ruefully. His throat was sore from eating and the last thing he felt like doing was a lot of talking. "I guess I'll be going; you should see to Lana."

Kyran nodded, but hesitated. "You want me to come with you?"

Qui-Gon shook his head. "I'll be alright." He sighed a little. "Besides, they're probably not that pleased that I only contacted them once during the mission."

"I'll look after Obi-Wan until you get back then," Kyran said as he stood. "Return quickly, my friend. May the Force be with you." His eyes twinkled.

Qui-Gon smiled slightly and headed out of the office, giving the stew a last lingering look before heading out to go to the Council chambers. He bypassed the junior aide and headed on in. He bowed formally. "I came as soon as I could."

Yoda smiled at him encouragingly. "News have you on Obi-Wan?"  
Qui-Gon sighed a little. "Han'yaie has performed the operation to help him recover his eyesight. We won't know for certain if he'll be able to see again until he awakens. I will have to help bring him around so we can know that information."

Mace gazed at him for a moment. It seemed as if his old friend wanted so badly to say something, but then he glanced around at the other masters and only commented, "And you?"

Qui-Gon nodded. "My throat is still recovering, but other than that I feel perfectly fine."

"Concerned the Council is," Yoda said unexpectedly. "Know do you the one responsible for Obi-Wan's condition?"

"Was it an enemy of yourself or the Jedi?" Ki-Adi Mundi added quietly.

"Obi-Wan made a personal enemy," Qui-Gon sighed heavily. "Z'aherin was a killer who'd burned several victims to death that Obi-Wan brought to my attention. I would not have noticed him had my padawan not pointed him out to me."

Yoda and the Council glanced at each other at that, yet it was Mace who was the one to speak. "Did you apprehend this Z'aherin?"

Qui-Gon grimaced. "No. I was unable to go after him. My padawan was unconscious and Lana was also injured. We had our hands full and had to allow him to escape."

"Out there still he is?" Yoda wanted clarification.

"Yes, Master Yoda." Qui-Gon said tucking his arms in his sleeves.

"This concerns us," Ki-Adi Mundi said, the other members of the Council nodding in agreement. "But we will let you back to your padawan in the Healer's Ward. You are dismissed."

Qui-Gon bowed and left the chamber wondering just what the Council was going to do about the missing murderer. He swallowed,wincing at the ache in his throat. He had to see about Obi-Wan.

To his surprise, Han'yaie met him at the door. "Obi-Wan just stirred, though didn't wake. I was about to send someone after you," the elderly Jedi said as he led Qui-Gon to Obi-Wan's recovery room. Obi-Wan was laying on his stomach to keep the risk of reinjuring the half-healed skin on his back down to a minimum. The boy was still out cold.

_Qui-Gon sat down in a chair next to the boy's bed and gently took one of his hands_. He reached out to the Force, drawing it around himself. _Obi-Wan?_he sent.

Obi-Wan thought he heard his master calling for him in the darkness where he had hidden himself. He responded with barely a flicker. He had been lured out so many times only to be hurt more and more. Could he trust this to be his master? What did he believe? That he was rescued? That his mind was playing tricks on him? _What?_

_Padawan...Please wake up. I need to know if the procedure on your eyes was successful. Han'yaie has worked to try to restore your eyesight,_he informed the boy.

Obi-Wan wanted to believe it was his master...but the pain...oh, the pain..._Prove it,_he sent daringly. _Prove you are Qui-Gon and not_...he trailed away.Qui-Gon responded by sending a warm wave of love and comfort to the boy. _Please Obi-Wan, wake up. I need to see that you're alright.  
_

It had to be his master. It had to be. Obi-Wan forced himself to swim toward consciousness. He immediately regretted it as the pain from his back slammed into him and he let out a low moan filled with his emotions.

_Shhh. It's alright..._Qui-Gon gripped his padawan's hand. _I'm right here. I know it hurts._

_Z'aherin..._Obi-Wan said, squeezing his eyes shut, scared beyond words that his sight was permanently gone. He didn't want to open them to find that he would never see again.Qui-Gon winced. _I'm sorry, padawan. I wasn't able to capture him yet. I was most concerned about getting you home safely. Lana also was injured so we had to leave.__   
  
_Obi-Wan's mind refused to want to think about what Z'aherin's escape meant so it settled on the other piece of information that he had received._ Lana's...hurt? How? Is she okay?__She's doing fine now. She's out of the bacta tank. If you wake up, I'm sure we could arrange for her to come visit.___   
  
_I'm awake_,he groggily protested, keeping his eyes firmly closed._I need you to open your eyes Obi-Wan. Han'yaie worked for eight hours trying to get them operational. We can't let fear rule our lives, Padawan,_he said sternly.Obi-Wan sighed inwardly. His master, as usual, had a point. Slowly, he opened his eyes. At first, all he was met with was blackness, and his heart sank. Right as he was about to tell his master that it had not worked, sight slammed into him and his master's worried face swam close to him. "I can see," he croaked out of a very sore throat.Qui-Gon sighed in relief and squeezed his padawan's hand in relief. He smiled a little, unable to come up with a reply. Words could not convey how relieved he was that his padawan's eyesight had been restored. He sent another wave of love and comfort to the boy in reply.

Obi-Wan grinned at his master. Suddenly, it seemed as if things could not be more right. That was, until Han'yaie walked in and ordered him back into the bacta tank. He groaned.

"Just think Obi-Wan, it could be worse," Qui-Gon said, grinning as he released his padawan's hand.

Obi-Wan eyed the healer standing firm in the doorway. "It's worse," he muttered, letting himself be wheeled out of the room. "Much worse."

-- The END of part two--


End file.
